$800,000 for PR props

Written By: - Date published: 8:34 pm, May 5th, 2011 - 103 comments
Categories: leadership - Tags:

Looks like John Key’s need to look like a celebrity has cost the tax payer $800,000 – that’s the blow out in cost for his DPS entourage, a cost that includes $30,000 for sending officers to Hawaii.

So let’s get this straight. $500k for the people of Te Tai Tokerau to have a by-election is wasteful but $800k for John to big note is all good?

What a joke.

I can just see him humming this to himself while he pisses away our money:

103 comments on “$800,000 for PR props ”

  1. higherstandard 1

    Is he responsible for DPS?

    I suspect no one in Hawaii would have a clue who he is…… but on the topic of Te Tai Tokerau they should take some of the heat for these increased costs on the back of those two tards who tried to mug him on Waitangi day…. not to mention some of the disturbing stuff the dom post published regarding what those activist nutters were considering.

    • Eddie 1.1

      “Is he responsible for DPS?”

      PMs clearly have some choice over how much DPS cover they have, otherwise other PMs would have taken DPS overseas and had conspicuous cover like Key does.

      Face it, he’s a little wannabe playing President with our money.

      • Bunji 1.1.1

        I like how he tried to deny any responsibility for his spending on One News last night. He’s the bloomin’ PM for goodness sake, of course he’s responsible for all government spending. No Truman-esque “The Buck Stops Here” sign in his office, evidently.

        Given that the right thought Helen was responsible for keeping track of her chauffeur’s speedometer, you’d think Key might just be responsible for how many big burly men he keeps around him in Hawaii. No-one over there is even going to know who he is without the DPS around to tell them…

  2. Pascal's bookie 2

    And who else saw the look that crossed Collin’s face when Paddy Gower was repeating his question about the 11k petrol bill for her self drive car?

    He asked a couple of times if family members were using the car, and she responded cooly enough that her use was within the rules. Then he changed the question to ask if family members were using the car for work purposes, and she got the same answer out; but not before the inner lizard did a head check. For a split second I thought she was going to eat him right there on the tele.

    • rosy 2.1

      Then he changed the question to ask if family members were using the car for work purposes

      hmmm, that seems very specific. I wonder if it’s just baiting or whether he has some evidence saved for a later day.

    • felix 2.2

      Nah, she’s a big sook. Another couple of questions and there’d have been tears I reckon.

      Reckon “Paddy” knows exactly who’s driving that car to work though.

    • Eddie 2.3

      not usually my field, but let’s do the maths

      $11,000 in two and a half years.

      Typical petrol price in that time, let’s say $1.80 per litre.

      Total litres purchased, about 6,000

      fuel efficiency of a Mazda 6 about 8.5l/100km

      total distance driven, about 70,000

      number of weeks, 120

      km per week, about 600

      hmmm. 600km per week.A hell of a lot.

      Clearly not Collins is not driving her self-drive that much each week, considering she’s in Wellington most of the time and the car’s at home in Clevedon.

      But what if hubbie works in Auckland CBD, about 45km away. Ten trips a week, that’s 450km.

      bingo.

      • jbc 2.3.1

        I have a Mazda 5 (the 1998cc people mover) which is supposedly 9.2 l/100km but I seem to use about 15 l/100km when solely city driving.

        I know this because I started recording fill-ups for the past few months as I thought it rather thirsty. Commuting is a killer for fuel economy so I’ve taken use public transport most of the time.

        It’s a pity more people don’t engage their brains when it comes to efficiency and consumption. Govt included. Makes it easy to forget when it’s not your money being spent I suppose.

        Just FYI.

        • Lanthanide 2.3.1.1

          Ouch. My car is rated for 5.9L/100km, and I got that on my trip to Hamner. Haven’t really measured it around town, but doesn’t seem too far out.

  3. burt 3

    $800,000 – that’s a familiar amount of money for a PM to use to promote themselves. I guess he didn’t steal it or he would be hailed as the greatest leader ever on this blog !

  4. felix 4

    The bit at the end about Collins and her petrol bill, video here: http://www.3news.co.nz/Collins-taxpayer-funded-petrol-bills-top-11000/tabid/370/articleID/209944/Default.aspx

    So who’s gas are we actually paying for here? Judith’s husband’s? Her children’s? Her brother in law’s? Her cousin’s?

    And her answer, less convincing with every repetition until she almost cries (so tough, Crusher): “All my petrol is within the rules”

    Where have I heard that excuse before? And how well did that go?

    • burt 4.1

      So have I got this right – she let the family use the car ? That’s sackable…. unless of course the family crash the car and drugs are found in it… then its… OK!

      • felix 4.1.1

        burt you’re a mental.

        She let someone – not necessarily family either btw – spend 11 grand of public money on petrol.

        • burt 4.1.1.1

          So will she do Labour MP and just pay it back or do you think that we should set a precedent and enforce the rules as written rather than allowing them to use the “rules were confusing” and “others were doing it too” baby excuses normally defended by the lovers of corruption?

          • felix 4.1.1.1.1

            No burt, we should do what we did to your mate Rodney and run her out of town with arrows in her stupid back.

            • burt 4.1.1.1.1.1

              I like this new standard of openness and accountability. It’s time the promise of 1999 was delivered on!

              • Armchair Critic

                Hey burt, save yourself the time and effort of actually typing, I’ve summarised all your comments into two sentences. All you need to do is copy and paste.
                1.Waaaah, Labour did it too
                2. Retrospective!

                • burt

                  Yes retrospective validation of spending that Labour were advised would be illegal was pretty shabby and it is hard to understand how people defend it based solely on the fact Labour did it. But I don’t actually see how you and I can make an assessment of Key’s security requirement ?

                  Clearly felix can, he knows it’s not needed in Hawaii… but the rest of us would be talking out of our ass if we pretended to know what was valid and what wasn’t.

                  • IrishBill

                    National good Labour bad eh Burt?

                  • Armchair Critic

                    I hope Done Brash remembers to include the GST for his party’s advertising this time round.
                    Someone is responsible for setting and managing the DPS budget. Which Minister is responsible for DPS? Ultimately they are responsible for assessing Key’s security requirement, and as citizens were are all entitled to ask questions about how well this Minister is doing their job.

                    • burt

                      I hope so too. But if he “forgets” lets hope Labour don’t validate the last 14 years of misappropriations to kill off a court case for their leader and let Brash off the hook – again !

                • felix

                  Shhhhh Armchair Critic, burt doesn’t know that National is in govt now and we don’t want to shock him.

                  I think you got away with it but if he gets suspicious just complain about all the lesbian taxes.

                  • Armchair Critic

                    That swishing noise was a whole lot of stuff going over burt’s head.

                    • Samuel Hill

                      This is as bad as Bill English’s housing allowance. Sack them both.

    • Carol 4.2

      Hmmm… at the end of the vid, Gower misrepresents the questions in Question Time today about Key’s chopper ride. Gower says Key was repeatedly queried on what was so important that he needed to take the chopper. In fact, the questions were, would Key have arrived in time for his security meeting if he had travelled by car.

    • Vicky32 4.3

      I just feel bound to point out that despite the fact that the American terms ‘gas’ and ‘gasoline’ have taken over from the word petrol in New Zealand, it’s just wrong. Not morally wrong, and not just linguistically wrong – but physically, factually and scientifically wrong.
      The stuff you put in your car is not a gas, and does not become a gas until some way into the combustion cycle. My annoyance with persistent Americanisms and the fact that they have almost completely taken over from New Zealand English are not as much because of national pride, but because a good half of them are ambiguous and inaccurate!
      F’r instance I saw a headline here or on Frogblog about families suffering because of high gas prices. I ended up wondering whether the issue was heating/cooking etc costs, or transport? I am still wondering – the unnecessary ambiguity annoyed me so much I decided not to read it.

      • jbc 4.3.1

        I think that ‘gas’ is simply short for gasoline and not literally referring to a state of matter. In that case it is not factually and scientifically wrong, but perhaps just irritating for some.

        Just like ‘liquid’ assets and a ‘solid’ argument. Not referring to states of matter.

        • Vicky32 4.3.1.1

          I did mention the word gasoline. But my question remains… what does it mean? (I think it was originally a brand name?) Why should we in New Zealand use the word? We had a perfectly good word already (petrol). One of the reasons why I can’t regard retail sales as a profession, shop-keepers as professionals, is the degree of ignorance that is responsible for such abominations as a New Zealand product being named “Colorsteel” and seeing shop displays that advertise ‘flavors’, ‘color’ film and ‘tires’, which to me is a verb and does not mean the rubber things that go on car wheels. The new buzzword/phrase is “different than”. I was amazed to hear the OAP Don Brash say “different than” last night! I know he didn’t grow up with the electronic baby-sitter, which is the excuse I tell myself every time I hear someone aged between 15-25 using not just American lexis but also the ghastly fake California accent all of today’s teens seem obliged to do… (I did it when I was 17, as my family had just got TV, and was laughed to scorn by parents, schoolmates and school teachers. It reminds of John Key on the radio on Tuesday morning giving his estimate of NZ’s new ‘threat assessment’ after the news about OBL… I thought Key’s “me-too-ism” strikes again. Why does what was becoming anadult, independent culture in the 1980s, have to jump back into the cradle again, with a cry of “me tooooooooooooooooooooo!”

          • Lanthanide 4.3.1.1.1

            For someone so caught up on grammar, you should really use paragraphs. I didn’t bother reading the 2nd half of your diatribe.

            • Vicky32 4.3.1.1.1.1

              Oh well, that’s me told! 😛
              However, I did use paragraphs. Then I hit ‘submit’ and the result is what you see. By calling it a ‘diatribe’ you are indicating clearly that you are bitterly angry and offended. I simply ask ‘why’?

              [lprent: The wysiwyg editor sometimes does that for no reason that I can see. It is on my list of things to fix when I can free some time. ]

  5. Rich 5

    Look, a bro’s got to have a posse, man.

    How’s he gonna get on Pimp My Ride or Cribs without a bunch of heavy dudes packin heat. Oh, and the hos.

    If anyone’s feeling smart, they should OIA the cost of the new DPS issue firearms.

  6. HS apparentley Key owns a condo in Hawaii, he has owned it for some time and spends his holidays there. Very patriotic; don’t you think?

    • burt 6.1

      unbelievable ! He’s got a condo in Hawaii… I mean if he has 5 rental properties and takes European ski holidays then that’s cool – but a condo in Hawaii – nasty.

      • Jum 6.1.1

        Yeah, burt,

        Difference is the woman with the rentals earned hers by working for New Zealand; Key stole his by working a speculative run on the NZ dollar, then comes over here to steal what’s left before he buggers off back to his masters in America, leaving New Zealand open for destruction by more money launderers like him.

  7. felix 7

    Agree with what hs said – Key doesn’t need DPS in Hawaii any more than you or I would.

    • Tanz 7.1

      Jealous, are we? Tired of Coromandel holidays? Hoola in Hawaii, and Key is very very famous.

      • Eddie 7.1.1

        don’t be a fuckwit, Tanz. people can criticise another’s behaviour without secretly wishing it was them.

        and key is not ‘very, very famous’ he’s such a lightweight he couldn’t even introduce himself to Elton John. Nobody knows who he is overseas, let alone could be bothered killing him.

        • Tanz 7.1.1.1

          I thought it was gracious of Key not to introduce himself to Elton John. It wouldn’t have been appropriate, given the event, and why should Elton be interested in politicians anyway. Elton is rather formidable, being so mega-famous. Key held back on that occasion, and it was warranted.

          I think leaders/celebrities/politicians, etc these days need security anywhere, because the village is global, and it is better to be safe than sorry.

          Key has a condo there cause he can. Wouildn’t you? Who can blame him.

          • Eddie 7.1.1.1.1

            “hey has a condo there cause he can. Wouildn’t you? Who can blame him.”

            No I wouldn’t, as it happens.

            I wouldn’t own a $2 million condo that I visit once or twice a year when there are people in this world that could really be helped by a fraction of that.

            It’s a bit like asking why I don’t get beggars in the teeth ’cause I can’. My choices are defined my my morals, as well as my physical and financial means.

            And Key said he didn’t introduce himself to Elton John because he was too shy. That’s right, a leader of 4.3 million people doesn’t get that he is meant to have some dignatis. Instead he blushes like a schoolgirl when he sees a guy who sings songs.

            • Tanz 7.1.1.1.1.1

              Key having a condo over in Hawaii is not hurting anyone though, it’s his business, and if he wasn’t PM, no one would care.

              It was nice that Key was shy, too shy to say hello to Elton. Sometimes less is more.

              As for the money, the $800,000, is this amount proven? Still, it only buys a nice house/bach, these days. And that would be chickenfeed to a president.

              • felix

                So if it’s his business, why are we paying for bodyguards to stay there with him? Going to Hawaii isn’t part of his job, is it?

                As you say, it’s his business – not ours.

                • rosy

                  Just as taking his kid to the car races and then going to dinner at the golf club. That was his business too (day-off stuff), but we still paid for it.

              • Tanz

                I believe in the US, that sort of money is considered a slush fund, but that would be nickel and dime stuff to them, of course!

                Been reading Absolute Power, by David Baldacci, sorry, that’s a bit off topic.

              • Maybe that’s why the US is $14 trillion in debt and counting.

        • Jum 7.1.1.2

          Yes, it was priceless, Eddie, seeing Gillard and Key come through the abbey door but only Gillard and Australia was mentioned, nothing at all about the jolly greenstone washed gnome.

      • felix 7.1.2

        I don’t understand what you mean. I was saying that Key doesn’t need DPS in Hawaii.

        What?

    • Treetop 7.2

      Every senario has to be thought through when it comes to the PMs security. Were the PM to go swimming in Hawaii and a great white just happened to be passing by, then they could all have fish and chips for dinner!

  8. seeker 8

    @Pascal’s Bookie 8.52pm

    She (Judith) certainly had her answer ready for him(Paddy) and kept repeating it like a mantra, just like Bill English today in Parliament when being questioned by Pete Hodgson about the PM’s use of a helicopter to a ‘security meeting’

    http://blog.labour.org.nz/index.php/2011/05/05/chopper-key-it-wasnt-the-flight-it-was-the-cover-up/

    I was mesmerised, not just by the number of times the same answer was given, but by the number of times Ms.Collins called Patrick Gower, “Paddy”. Is he called this by all -or just inner lizards? I have never heard him called this before. “Patrick” just doesn’t look like “Paddy” to little ol’me in the outer ‘tv viewer’s’ circle.

    Great observation PB.

    • Eddie 8.1

      They call him Paddy. But Collins was clearly using a nickname to try to disarm him.

  9. ianmac 9

    Remember Election night 2008 and giggling Key made his way into the hall filled with his supporters but with several darksuited heavies leading the way in case some of those pesky Nat Supporters touched him. Like a gangster in a dark movie.

  10. Gee this thread has been busy.

    Helen did not need DPS overseas, she preferred to climb mountains. What sort of wimp is this John Key person?

    And Collins?

    You mean she has been bludging on the people’s credit card?

    This is the trouble with the tories. They think that a Ministerial wage is a sacrifice rather than a privilege.

    • ianmac 10.1

      About a year ago the question of Collin’s car expenses came up. The journalist asked the same questions and Collins gave the same answers. Within the rules. I remember her reptillian stare at the questioner and he seemed to crumble. Certain degree of arrogance in that woman. It might be her downfall yet.

      • mickysavage 10.1.1

        Aye

        I have been to Auckland Law Society gatherings where she would walk in, size up who was good for her career, talk to them and ignore everyone else. Her reputation amongst lawyers is, well, poor. She is not very bright and brittle and making very important decisions …

        • Tanz 10.1.1.1

          Nonsense. Only the best make it into Parliament, and I bet Judith was/is a great lawyer, a true blue Tory (meant in the nicest possible way). Good on her.

      • infused 10.1.2

        It’s not arrogance. He was simply baiting her. It was a good response. I was surprised she didn’t say “get the fuck out of my way”. Looked like she wanted to.

  11. ianmac 11

    There were some VIP people at the Wedding. Did you see a phalanx of dark suits protecting each one? Nah! But even in the halls of Parliament John has to be guarded. Watch next time he walks along to talk to dangerous journalists..

    • g_man 11.1

      Well, remembering that John Key was attacked at Waitangi by the Popata brothers in 2009, and a certain MP said he would do what he could to help them because they were his nephews. Further stating, “I’ve been impressed by the sincerity and the passion that they bring to the activities that they are involved in … Sure, sometimes that passion spills over, and sometimes that leads to actions that society might frown upon, but with my record, who am I to criticise? I can recall with distinct clarity putting myself outside the norm and often outside the law to promote ideas and beliefs that we were passionate about when we were young (once upon a time!), and I don’t regret any of it – not for one second.”

      And then, earlier this year at Waitangi, Wikitana Popata yelled through a loudhailer, calling him “the enemy”, later saying, “Now is the time to intensify the struggle. He [Key] is the one responsible for stealing our foreshore and our land” …

      … and the same MP praised his actions, pretty much saying that he wasn’t allowed to do it himself because he had been told he had to be polite on the marae.

      To be honest, with someone like Hone Harawira around Parliament, I wouldn’t blame anyone for wanting protection.

      • ianmac 11.1.1

        Diddums. Perhaps you and your mate Key need a woman to protect you.

        • g_man 11.1.1.1

          So you have no problem with a current sitting MP supporting violent protest against the leader of our country, whoever it is?

          Says a lot …

          • Jum 11.1.1.1.1

            I didn’t see you leaping up and down telling Helen Clark she should get the amount of protection JKeyll has, given the numbers of misogynistic g-men in this country.

            Like it was said so clearly this morning, no other Prime Minister has had bullyboys protecting him or her in Parliament; I’ve been there. There’s more than enough scare security around not to have to worry about that.

            Still, given JKeyll is killing the future of New Zealanders, by selling them off to American business, (you know them, g-man – JKeyll’s masters…) I’m not surprised people are beginning to get angry.

            What a joke JKeyll is.

      • Pascal's bookie 11.1.2

        There was also that fantasist with a record of play acting Frederick Forsyth novel characters. Specifically, assassins.

  12. Irascible 12

    The bill for extravagant spending by the Key led NACToid government keeps mounting as each example of self-aggrandisement is revealed.
    Key: $2000.00 for a helicopter flight back to Auckland for an unspecified security meeting. $7000+ for the air force to fly him to a Bellusconi moment in Hamilton then back to a golf club dinner plus other flights to karaeoke at a music festival and now $800,000 for security cover because he chooses to live in Hawaii as his electorate’s name gives him a rash each time he visits.
    McCully over $75,000 to fly eight people to Vanuatu because he was too lazy to browse the inter-net to find the regular commercial services there.
    Added to the heated seated BMWs and other photo-opportunity speeding to cars, helicopters and other rorts and this lot look as though they should being hounded to pay back a tonne of irresponsibly used taxpayers’ money.
    Where are the incensed newspaper 7 mediaworks talkback jocks now???

  13. seeker 13

    @ Tanz

    “Only the best make it into Parliament”

    If only! Just look at the poor specimens on the National and Act benches and include the latest addition from Botany. What a weak and ‘unaspirational’ world you must live in Tanz if you think these self-serving, unaccountable, shallow thinking, evasive and often untruthful beings are the “best” New Zealand has to offer!

    • Tanz 13.1

      They are my favourite Parliamentairians, the Acts and the Nats. That’s why the lead the government, they were voted in by pretty much a landslide, and it’s staying that way. In fact, the gap is widening! Tories rule, Ok. And the majority LOVES them, going by the ever-glowing golden dipped polls! The Midas Touch, has Key!!! Wow. The country is glowing, his magic rubbing off.

      • Colonial Viper 13.1.1

        If that were really true Key and his handlers wouldn’t be sweating bullets over this election, which they are.

        Key in particular knows that his time is running out and that the right wing want him gone next term, no matter who is in Government.

        • Jum 13.1.1.1

          Yes, Colonial Viper, JKeyll does know his time is short and he’s grateful; he’s bored with it already, ya know.

          He just needs enough time to put his hand on his chest and say ‘I promised I would resign if the Super age was increased’ just after Bill English, having had it signed off by the Joker, announces it along with the SOE sales.

          Already our Kiwi land is being sold to Germany, Harvard university is already in control of some land, and given their Professors have been involved with Haarp, I would have to wonder what they are doing in New Zealand, with all those lovely valuable minerals living under that pristine white snow down South of New Zealand…

          The one indisputable fact of life in New Zealand is that National and Act with the hangers-on Maori Party and United Future never have done, are doing, or will do anything that benefits all New Zealanders.

          Greedy and selfish people gravitate to the right.

      • felix 13.1.2

        Landslide, Tanz?

        Hardly. Only a couple of seats’ worth in it.

        • Tanz 13.1.2.1

          Wait for November this year, it will be a landslide, circa 2002. National this time sill be smiling, not crying. Governing alone?

          • Jum 13.1.2.1.1

            If National governs alone tanz, then greed and selfishness have won; New Zealand will then be renamed little america.

            I can only imagine you either live outside of New Zealand so don’t really care, or you are a crosby/textor groupie or you will make money out of other New Zealanders’ misery.

            Says a lot about you, just as much as the state of New Zealand today makes a criminal out of JKeyll.

            Sad that JKeyll could lose his sidekick Hide, but not until Hide’s completely destroyed Auckland’s chances of retaining its assets in Auckland residents’ hands. Obviously, Brash wasn’t listening when he struck the deal with JKeyll to win the lead in National after JKeyll went back home to America.

            ‘Keep Hide in so he continues to get the shit flung at him and not at JKeyll or Brash’. But, tanz, anyone with half a brain knows now that Brash really is no gentleman.

  14. Lanthanide 14

    In Key’s defence, he has had a number of high profile visitors to NZ lately, as well as trips overseas, all of which will be coming out of that budget.

    He’s had Prince William here twice, Julia Gillard, and trips to Europe hob-nobbing around the place. He probably had the security team with him when he toured CHCH after both quakes, as well.

    • Colonial Viper 14.1

      Yeah but going to Christchurch – what’s the threat assessment, seriously?

      Primary threat is going to be from another big earthquake – what use are guys with suits and guns when that happens?

      And there is no doubt that VIPs and Key need close protection – but what’s up with the $800K blow out?

      Wait until the fraking RWC happens and the VIPs pour in. More tax payer funds going to look after rich pricks while ordinary NZ’ers do it cold and hungry and are told that using a food bank is a “lifestyle choice”.

    • Luxated 14.2

      Considering both William and Julia would have brought M16(or whoever covers it in the UK)/AFP with them as a matter of course I wouldn’t have thought the DPS overhead would have been that high. A few standard police officers would probably cover most of the extra workload.

  15. I suggest Key the Coward have plenty of overpaid bully boys surrounding him the next time he goes spurting more crap to heartbroken West Coast miners families. This creep Key should learn about karma and shut his pathetic mouth about things he cannot deliver!!

    • Wow! Are you saying the average Kiwi is waking up to his sneaky creepiness???

      • Tanz 15.1.1

        What creepiness? Open, honest, transparent, blokeish and a hit with voters.

        • todd 15.1.1.1

          Anybody who has a nickname like “the smiling assassin” has a certain amount of creepiness about him. The whole smile and waive routine, which lacks any substance while buying the media off and hiding a butcher’s knife to gut the country, can definitely be termed as sneaky. What is really creepy about Shonkey is that he’s been caught out repeatedly lying, while his apparent public opinion rating continues to be high in the polls. Something just doesn’t add up there.

          His dubious investments and association with Merrill Lynch can also be termed creepy, in a stalking killer kind of way. Any “your my mate, here’s a beer and slap another beneficiary on the barbecue” persona that he manages to pull off is totally undermined by his obvious sleazy snake style. His persona reeks of medication. The speech impediment makes him sound like a drunk, or should I say that like Piggy Muldoon he is often inebriated. In either case these are undesirable in a prime minister.

          To use the words “open” or “honest” to describe Shonkey or National who are just moneymakers and elitists, when Shonkey lied about the BMW’s, the NZSAS torture claims and his ability to choose to use the DPS or not (just to name a few of his lies), shows that you are highly deluded Tanz. While National has removed the Christchurch unemployed from the stats, removed public protections, destroyed workers rights and rammed through more legislation under urgency than ever before, to use the word “transparent” is even worse. Could I propose that you open your eyes Tanz.

          Nationals policy ideas should certainly be viewed as creepy by those who they adversely affect. Being that National is about to rape New Zealand if they get a second term; creep is about the best word to describe John Key. Nationals first term, was just about luring their victims into the vehicle. It’ll be your fault for voting for them New Zealand… Which is a typical National blame-the-victim mentality. As for a hit with the voters, I think you’ve grossly overestimated the worst of a bad bunch of reprobates.

    • Jum 15.2

      That’s odd dad 4 justice. I thought you’d love Key, given he’s made the lives of women (those other humans that you hate with such a passion you blog about it on men’s sites) inequitable, unequal and unsafe with the refuges being underfunded and women and children (I didn’t think you would hate children too – maybe just the girls) now forced to look elsewhere if the funding doesn’t get allocated to them because overworked staff have to beg for money from this fxxking government.

      • dad4justice 15.2.1

        Jum you orrible ole nasty witch, my two daughters are loved by their dad. Go eat a bat you demented bitch!

        Oh great stuff this comment is awaiting for moderation.haha. No wonder sewer rats lurk around this shit hole.

        • Jum 15.2.1.1

          LOL. Pick on Helen Clark, whom I admire, and get what you get boy. I never forget or forgive. I also remember posting on Colin Espiner’s blog just after election 2008 saying I hoped I was wrong about Key. I wasn’t. You were.

          The thing that worries me is that in your previous comment calling Key a coward suggests that you want him to get more vicious with the women of New Zealand and the workers of this country. I hope I am wrong about you. I doubt it.

  16. Hmmm $800k more for Key’s bodyguards, $700k less for Womens Refuges.
     
    Says it all really.

  17. felix 17

    I like CV’s take.

    Lifestyle choice.

  18. Treetop 18

    1) Is there not a cheaper way to provide protection for the PM?

    2) Are the cops the best shot compared to an SAS dude or a regular military dude?

  19. Tanz 19

    Do any of you agree with Garth George this week? Even he is having a go at Key, which is unusal, Key apparently out of the country more than he is at his desk. Not taking the tough choices, etc. How come you lefties never agree with the wise Garth George?

    • Jum 19.1

      Garth George, tanz is a rightwing wanker/misogynist/godbotherer, but without the compassion, the intelligence or the writing skills to hold anyone’s trust.

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  • At a glance – Does CO2 always correlate with temperature?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    2 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 hours ago
  • Relentlessly negative
    Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 hours ago
  • Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    Bryce Edwards writes –  It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 hours ago
  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    5 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    6 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    6 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    10 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    10 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    11 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    11 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    12 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    13 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    15 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
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